Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Letters patent interpretation

Legal area

Court

21 Apr 1995

LEE MIU LING and Another v. ATTORNEY GENERAL

Citation

LEE MIU LING and Another v. ATTORNEY GENERAL
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP1696/1994

Art.21 requires universal and equal suffrage and one person one vote in principle, but section 13 cannot negate Art.21 now that the Letters Patent require an elected Legislative Council; Letters Patent Art.VII(3) expressly authorises laws creating functional constituencies that confer limited additional voting entitlements, and on that basis the LC(EP)O as amended does not infringe the Bill of Rights; therefore the plaintiffs' declaration is refused and judgment is entered for the defendant.
22 Apr 1991

RE CHIU TE KEN, DEACON

Citation

RE CHIU TE KEN, DEACON
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP719/1991

The court held that Article XIV does permit delegation of the Governor's power to appoint public officers including magistrates in principle, and statutory mechanisms (s63 Cap.1) permit delegation of the section 5 power, but the specific 1974 minute did not evidence a valid sub-delegation of the Article XIV power to the Chief Justice; therefore Mr Peter Line's appointment by the Chief Justice was invalid. Although the de facto judge doctrine exists, it did not bar the applicants' challenge on the facts because their challenge was not merely collateral and the applicants had not been committed…